DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump is hailing a renaissance in U.S. auto manufacturing that has not happened. The industry is chugging along without the “massive numbers” of car companies that he says are setting up shop in the country.
Always eager to claim a manufacturing revival, ...

By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Saturday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2019. There are 318 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 16, 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a-half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.
On this ...

Officials are taking in stride news that one of the wolves relocated to Isle Royale National Park last year has crossed the ice bridge from the remote island and returned to the mainland where it had been captured only months ago.
The female was among four wolves placed on the island in an ...

WASHINGTON — Politics is not brain surgery; it’s not that complicated. Politics is about addition, not subtraction. Show me a political party that is openly seeking and welcoming “converts” to its side and is finding common ground and I’ll show you a growing, healthy and, yes, winning ...

By Nicholas Riccardi
Associated Press
In the final weeks before the 2008 election, Barack Obama’s campaign sent mailers to Florida voters reassuring them that he supported the Second Amendment. In the opening days of the 2020 Democratic primary, it’s hard to imagine any candidate feeling ...

By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Friday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2019. There are 319 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 15, 1961, 73 people, including an 18-member U.S. figure skating team en route to the World Championships in ...

Momentum. Traction. Whatever you want to call it, there is movement on Michigan’s abysmal accountability practice when it comes to state government.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a directive last week at the Michigan Press Association meeting that:
Requires state agencies to appoint ...

TRAVERSE CITY — I’m curious what others thought of Consumers Energy’s Super Bowl apology commercial. Nice of them? Self-serving? Sincere and heartfelt? Insult to injury, in that you and I will end up paying for whatever they spent on the spot? Where do you come down on this? If I’m ...

The first substantive roll call vote of the 100th Michigan legislature was held last week not on a bill but on a resolution disapproving an Executive Order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. This is explained below.
Just one bill has been advanced from committee for consideration by the full ...

By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2019. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman identified as a former student opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at ...

As a general proposition, we like the things that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her team has accomplished in their first month on the job. But after campaigning on increased transparency in government, Whitmer passed on an opportunity last week to open her office to the same level of legal scrutiny ...

WASHINGTON — If the pollsters at CNN and CBS are correct, Donald Trump may have found the formula for winning a second term in 2020.
His State of the Union address, say the two networks, met with the approval of 76 percent of all viewers — 97 percent of Republicans, 82 percent of ...

WASHINGTON — Much has been made lately of language in a recently enacted New York state statute that permits abortion up to the time of birth if necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. New Jersey has had the same provision for two generations via a regulation of the Board of ...

By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2019. There are 321 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 13, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the U.S. Supreme Court, ...

BERKELEY — Donald Trump promised that his State of the Union address would focus on “unification.” But Trump advocating national unity is like a pyromaniac promoting lighter fluids. His goal is, and has always been, disunion.
The man thrives on divisiveness. It’s how he keeps himself ...

WASHINGTON — Eloquence is not a characteristic associated with President Donald Trump, but in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, the president not only rose to the occasion, he also delivered a message that was beautifully crafted by his speechwriters, a speech devoid of much of ...

By The Associated Press
Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2019. There are 322 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 12, 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.
On this date:
In ...

With record-setting temperatures and ice storms over the past two weeks along with relentless snowfall expected today, life in the Upper Peninsula has been particularly tough as of late. However, crews have responded very quickly to the power outages, traffic accidents, and poor driving ...

EDITOR:
The week of Feb. 10-16 is designated as National Salute to Veteran Patients Week, and VA facilities across the Nation will be honoring the hospitalized men and women we proudly care for and serve.
The employees and volunteers at the Iron Mountain VA Medical Center and its seven ...

WASHINGTON — Soon, in a federal court that few Americans know exists, there will come a ruling on a constitutional principle that today barely exists but that could, if the judicial branch will resuscitate it, begin to rectify the imbalance between the legislative and executive branches. It ...